Race starting barrier



Jan. 219, 1935. H. E. GooD 1,989,447

RAEE STARTING BARRIER Filed July .9, 1950 l 2 f )i+- Jf Patented Jan.29, 1935 I 1,989,44't RACE sTARTINGBAnaiEn Harry Edward. Good, Hawera,

so, serfia1.N.`4e6;z 63' j Application. July 9, 19

New Zealandl" A In New Zealand. July 1(2), v1..(!laim. (Cl.v 1197-1551)'Y'Ihisinvention relates to the` starting barriers, used. principally.inV horse racing, of. any` of the known types., in which a barrier tapevis, carried uponl pillars on posts erected on. the respective sidesofthe. trackA anclis designed to be heldin a lowered positionto stretch'across. the track and thenb'y. the.v operation of the oiicial starter,tobe released and liftedclear of` the track to permit the horsestopassbeneath.

'Itisffound difficult in the useof these barriers or starters, f toobtain. fair or satisfactory starts owing to the needof lining thehorses up to the barriers and the naturalrestiveness. of the horses,aided inmany cases bythe anxiety of their riders, keeping thehorsesmoving about the stationary barrier.y It is 'proposed by this inventionto provide a method ofstartng under which the horses are marshalledagainsta barrier` capable of` travelling along theK track, yat adistance back from the starting point, and thencausing the barrier totravel up the tracktowardsv the. .starting point, the horses moving withit,(and they barrier then beingraisedatpany. desiredA .point in suchtravel, to 'start the'race.' 'The' horses aligned against the barrierare thus kept in motion, so that the liability to restiveness incidentalto being kept motionless behind a stationary barrier is removed, andalso the horses may be more satisfactorily aligned against the barrier.The starter then, when he has obtained this alignment, may release thebarrier at any point in he distance it ltravels over.

The invention consists in mounting the barrier posts or pillars upontravelling carrier frames that are in turn mounted on rail tracks laidalong the respective sides of the racing track for any desired distanceso that the frames may run to and fro along such rails and carry thebarrier along the track. It also consists in providing means upon suchcarrier frames whereby they may be driven to travel in the requireddirection and the driving controlled by the starter who will be carriedon one of the frames which is made with provision for his accommodation.These driving means will be of such a nature as to provide for the twoframes being synchronously operated and controlled.

The invention may be given effect to in a number of diierent ways andthese may be such as to adapt it to varying circumstances. In theaccompanying drawing a suitable manner is shown by which the inventionmay be carried out.

In such drawing:-

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan setting out the arrangement of thestarter barrier apparatus and the-'means whereby the. barrier-iscausedto move=along the track.

Figure 2 is an-.enlargedsectional viewftaken'on line 2--2 of Fig. 1-showing a carrier frame `for oneend of the barrier, and its mounting;`

Figure-3; is a'sideelevation of a carrier: frame.

Figure: 4 is-adetailed'sectionalyiew; taken on lineffl-i of Fig. 2. v -Vf The present invention is not concerned. with the type of barrieremployed, asitis`v adaptable 1Q for usev with-V any of the'existingandwell.l known foiflrrisgl Qbarifiers. ingwhich; the,-Abarrier,v tape; N extends from one side ofthe racing; trackftothe otherand is-carried by-.arms Opivotally -mounted upon, vertical postsferected. upon4 the respective 15; sidesof the track. These-=arms may becontrolled by conventionalmeansl such as showninl` U. S. PatentNo..587,285 to. Harris.` and-may be oper ated-by springsY. To.. releasethe barrier. a re-- leasef-R..operated b1 a pullcordR isactuated, 2Q,moving the bolt, ofthe. release. out.. ofv theeye` S. The, springsvYthen4 move thebarrier up out,A of thepath ofthe horses;

In thisinvention, howeveig'the barrier carrying post A on each side ofthe track B, is mounted 25 upon a suitably constructed carrier frame Cand is provided withV braces A. Frame. C runs to and fro upon a railtrack D arranged to extend a distance parallel with that edge oftheracing track and parallel with the other side. These rail tracks aredisposed to extend for any desired distance along the racing tracklength according to the starting points to be provided for.

The barrier thus is capable of travelling to and 35 fro along the railtracks by the travel of its carrier frames in a synchronized manner, tokeep them opposite each other and the barrier extending transverselyacross the racing track. To ensure of this synchronized travel of thetwo 40 frames C, they are connected together in any suitable manner, asfor instance in the manner shown in Figure ,1. In this the forward end`of each frame C is connected to the rear end of the other frame, bymeans of a rope E attached 45 to the forward end and carried forwardlyalongside the rail track, to its forward end, and then returned round aguide pulley F and diagonally across the racing track to a guide pulleyG positioned at the rear end of the rail track 50 round such pulley Gand then forwardly for attachment tothe rear of the other carrier frame.This provides that when either carrier frame is moved along its track,in either direction, a corresponding travel is imparted to the railtrack on the 30 sequently nothing extends across above the race trackexcepting the barrier tape itself.

The barrier carrier frames are causedito travel to and fro along thetrack by any approved mechanism controlled by the starter oiiicial whowill be accommodated upon one `of the frarnesfv as by providing suchframe with upon which required to positively drive one ofthe framesonly, the other frame being moved by the connections a platform YHbeforementioned, and such Imechanism may be,

of any approved nature such as are well vknown in the art relating totransport driving means.

In Figure 1 the means indicated as being suitable for the purpose,comprise a cable J-'that is led from end to end alongsideoneof therail'tracks, and returns around suitable `guide pulleys, and which iscaused to continuously travel up and back again, by an electro-motor Kdriving it. Mounted on the carrier platform H are two ordinary cablegrip levers M, which are'arrangedkto engage respectively with the cableas it travels in the two directions beneath the platform.V As shown inFigs. 2 and fi of the drawing, the cable grips actuated by levers M aresubstantially identical to' those' 'shown in the patent to Brosnan, No.750,162, of January 19, 1904. Levers M arepreferably ofthe bell-cranktype and are fulcrumed by ymeans of members 12 secured to the platformH. The short arm of the levers M is connected by a link 13 to avertically movable i block 10 which is attached toa grip member 9; Thegrip member I9 slides vertically' on vspaced rods 4. A stationary gripmember 6 is carriedbythe lower ends of the rods 4. To insure freelmovement of the'cable J over the lower grip when the upper grip9 is inraised position,'rollers 7 are provided.

he may stand. This mechanism is'YA Either grip may be actuated at willto grip the cable passing through it, while the other is free. Thus thecarrier frame may be caused to travel in eitherdirection, at the will ofthe starter oicial, by operating the requisite grip lever, and ,mayy bestopped by freeing such grip.

The barrier itself will be actuated by the starter from his platform Hso that as he is travelling along with the barrier andghas the horsesaligned, he may release .theibarrien i I claim:-

In a starting barrier for a race track, a rail Vvtrack extending alongeach side of the race track and parallel to the rail track on the otherside, a carrier frame movably ymounted on each rail track, verticalposts on the carrier frames for supporting the corresponding ends of astarting barrier tape, a pulley positioned at each end of .the rail onboth sides of the race track, a tunnel extending under the race trackfrom a point adjacent one end of each rail to a point adjacent theopposite end of the rail on the other side of the race track, a ropeconnected to one end of one carrier frame, vsaid rope passing over thepulley at the corresponding end'of the rail through one of said tunnels,over the pulley at the opposite end of the -other rail and beingccnnected'to the opposite end of the other carrier frame, a ropesimilarly connecting the other ends ofthe carrier frames and passingover the other pulleys and through the other tunnel whereby both carrierframes will move synchronously and corresponding distances in the samedirection, a twoway hauling cable extending along one of the rails,`means for causing the cable to travel up and down the track in twolines moving in respectively opposite directions, a platform on one ofthe carrier frames, means on the platform for locking its frame toeither line of cable and for releasing it therefrom, and means on thevertical posts for raising the barrier tape at any point along thevtravel of the frames on their rails. HARRY EDWARD GOOD.l

